"Halloween: Resurrection"

A guru of gore, I always have high hopes for slasher flicks. As the projector starts to purr, I think, �Please, make this one good. Make this one scary. Make this one different.�

After �Halloween: Resurrection,� make mine a double.

Ironically, �Halloween� is its own worst enemy. The original, John Carpenter�s innovative horror de force, launched the slasher/splatter genre and, in doing so, set it up for its own degenerative journey into darkness, clich�, vacuity and full frontal nudity.

In this eighth installment, beloved immortal Michael Myers traipses through the opening sequences and finally succeeds in murdering his long-suffering sister, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Hold on a second. Didn�t Laurie decapitate Michael in �H2O,� the last sequel? Nope, wily Michael pulled a switcheroo and escaped with his William Shatner mask intact. (Which begs the question, �Why is this a resurrection?�)

�H:R� is a cornucopia brimming with the swollen bounty of pop culture: college students, reality TV, the Internet, PDAs, a cameo by Thomas Ian Nicholas of �American Pie� fame, hip tunes, bong hits and a rapper-turned-actor (Busta Rhymes). �Halloween: Demographics� would have been a better title.

Rhymes plays the producer of �Dangertainment,� a live webcast that sends six students into Myers� childhood home in Haddonfield, Ill., where his franchised rampage began way back in 1978. He plans boy-who-cried-wolf pranks to boost ratings, going so far as to dress up like Michael hisself. Natch, the real Michael culls the herd, leaving its strongest members for the final, predictable showdown.

One redeeming and surprising twist is a crowd of tuned-in partygoers sending useful info to the heroine�s palm pilot. This creates a few moments of suspense ... but only a few. And though I�m sure director Rick Rosenthal, who helmed the respectable �Halloween II,� thought �Blair Witch-�esque camerawork would be effective, it wasn�t.

Kudos, props and the like are due to Dione Webb for perpetrating the biggest scare. Who�s Dione Webb, you query? Busta�s hair stylist.

If you like horror fare, wait for the video. If not, treat yourself to other tricks.